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The international match: Metaphors as vehicles of social identity building in cross-border mergers

Author

Listed:
  • Eero Vaara

    (EM - EMLyon Business School)

  • Janne Tienari
  • Risto Santti

Abstract

This article focuses on cultural identity-building in the cross-border merger context. To provide an alternative to the dominant essentialist analyses of cultures and cultural differences, cultural identitybuilding is conceptualized as a metaphoric process. The focus is on two processes inherent in the cross-border merger context: construction of images of Us and Them and construction of images of a Common Future. Based on an analysis of a special metaphor exercise carried out in a recent Finnish–Swedish merger, the article illustrates how the metaphoric perspective reveals specific cognitive, emotional and political aspects of cultural identity-building that easily remain ‘hidden' in the case of more traditional approaches.

Suggested Citation

  • Eero Vaara & Janne Tienari & Risto Santti, 2003. "The international match: Metaphors as vehicles of social identity building in cross-border mergers," Post-Print hal-02311681, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02311681
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Barmeyer, Christoph & Mayrhofer, Ulrike, 2008. "The contribution of intercultural management to the success of international mergers and acquisitions: An analysis of the EADS group," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 28-38, February.
    2. Cristina López-Duarte & Marta M. Vidal-Suárez & Belén González-Díaz & Nuno Rosa Reis, 2016. "Understanding the relevance of national culture in international business research: a quantitative analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 108(3), pages 1553-1590, September.
    3. Gilles Arnaud & Bénédicte Vidaillet, 2018. "Clinical and critical: The Lacanian contribution to management and organization studies," Post-Print hal-01591534, HAL.
    4. Wang, Daojuan & Hain, Daniel S. & Larimo, Jorma & Dao, Li T., 2020. "Cultural differences and synergy realization in cross-border acquisitions," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(3).
    5. Ybema, Sierk & Vroemisse, Marlous & van Marrewijk, Alfons, 2012. "Constructing identity by deconstructing differences: Building partnerships across cultural and hierarchical divides," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 48-59.
    6. Patrick Regnér & Udo Zander, 2011. "Knowledge and Strategy Creation in Multinational Companies," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 51(6), pages 821-850, December.
    7. Kourti, Isidora, 2017. "Why should we collaborate? Exploring partners’ interactions in the psychosocial spaces of an inter-organisational collaboration," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 93-101.
    8. Smith, Pernille & da Cunha, Joao Vieira & Giangreco, Antonio & Vasilaki, Athina & Carugati, Andrea, 2013. "The threat of dis-identification for HR practices: An ethnographic study of a merger," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 308-321.
    9. Sophie Fischer & John Rodwell & Mark Pickering, 2021. "A Configurational Approach to Mergers and Acquisitions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-15, January.
    10. Isidora Kourti, 2015. "Achieving Collaborative Aims through Multiple Identity Construction: Managing a public inter-organizational collaboration," Border Crossing, Transnational Press London, UK, vol. 2015(1501), pages 1-15, March.
    11. Eero Vaara & Janne Tienari & Alexei Koveshnikov, 2021. "From Cultural Differences to Identity Politics: A Critical Discursive Approach to National Identity in Multinational Corporations," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(8), pages 2052-2081, December.
    12. Isidora Kourti, 2015. "Achieving Collaborative Aims through Multiple Identity Construction: Managing a public inter-organizational collaboration," Border Crossing, Transnational Press London, UK, vol. 5(1-2), pages 1-15, January-J.
    13. Blake E. Ashforth & Kristie M. Rogers & Kevin G. Corley, 2011. "Identity in Organizations: Exploring Cross-Level Dynamics," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(5), pages 1144-1156, October.
    14. Adrien Jean-Guy Passant, 2022. "The organizational identity of business schools: Toward an entrepreneurial redefinition? A longitudinal case study of a European business school," Post-Print hal-04180471, HAL.
    15. Teerikangas, Satu & Colman, Helene Loe, 2020. "Theorizing in the qualitative study of mergers & acquisitions," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(1).
    16. John Sillince & Paula Jarzabkowski & Duncan Shaw, 2012. "Shaping Strategic Action Through the Rhetorical Construction and Exploitation of Ambiguity," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(3), pages 630-650, June.
    17. Tukiainen, Sampo, 2015. "Sensemaking of managing cultural differences in a Finnish-Polish project," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 69-83.
    18. Amernic, Joel & Craig, Russell, 2009. "Understanding accounting through conceptual metaphor: ACCOUNTING IS AN INSTRUMENT?," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 20(8), pages 875-883.
    19. Bjursell, Cecilia, 2011. "Cultural divergence in merging family businesses," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 2(2), pages 69-77, June.
    20. Caterina Moschieri & Roberto Ragozzino & Jose Manuel Campa, 2014. "Does Regional Integration Change the Effects of Country-Level Institutional Barriers on M&A? The Case of the European Union," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 54(6), pages 853-877, December.
    21. Jørgensen, Lene & Jordan, Silvia & Mitterhofer, Hermann, 2012. "Sensemaking and discourse analyses in inter-organizational research: A review and suggested advances," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 107-120.
    22. Anna Łupina-Wegener & Susan C. Schneider & Rolf Dick, 2015. "The Role of Outgroups in Constructing a Shared Identity: A Longitudinal Study of a Subsidiary Merger in Mexico," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 55(5), pages 677-705, October.
    23. Luca Carollo & Marco Guerci, 2018. "‘Activists in a Suit’: Paradoxes and Metaphors in Sustainability Managers’ Identity Work," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(2), pages 249-268, March.

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